Gear case



C.. BETHEL.

GEAR CASE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1920.

1A1 9 651 Patemmune 113, 1922.

2 SHEETS SHEET I.

" INVENTOR WITNESSES:

C, BETHEL.

GEAR CASE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1920.

Patented. June 113; 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR 6%: ads fist/262 ATTREY QZIENESSZAL'W/ Z/ Z a we:

CLAUDE IBETHEL, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & IVIANUFACTURING CO1VIPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

GEAR case.

Application filed April 1 1,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE BETHEL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gear Cases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to gear-cases, and it has particular relation to apparatus of the character designated for use on railway vehicles.

The object of my invention is to provide a gear-case that shall be of particularly strong and rigid construction and that shall be simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Gear-cases, as employed on electric railway cars and other motor-propelled vehicles, are ordinarily secured to, and supported from, the car truck by means of end projections thereof and are divided into upper and lower sections to permit easy access to the gears.

Heretofore, one of the chief structural difficulties encountered in the manufacture of gear-cases has been to provide sufficiently strong end projections to support these gearcases without adding a prohibitive amount of metal and weight thereto and without necessitating an unfeasible number of operations in the manufacture thereof.

By my invention, 1 provide a gear-case in which, by a very slight increase in weight and material, the strength and rigidity thereof are materially increased.

Briefly speaking, my invention consists of so bending the edges of the side plates of a gear-case that they form inwardly-turned flanges disposed at substantially right angles to the main body portion thereof. The bent edges of the side plates are welded, or otherwise attached, to the edge plates and extend into, and form parts of, the end projections. The addition of flanges to the side plates causes a relatively great increase in the moment of inertia and the section modulus of a section taken perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the gear case through the end projections, usually the point of least strength. These flanges tend to prevent the side plates from buckling and to make the gear case stronger to resist lateral pressure.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference should now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is SpEOifiOatiOHOf letters Patent. Patented June 113, 11922.,

1920. Serial No. 373,732.

a view, in side elevation, of a gear-case constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is an end view thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the side plates of the upper portion of the gear-case before its flange is formed, and Fig. 1 is a similar view of one of the side plates of the lower portion of the gear-case. Fig. 5 is a View, in side elevation, of a slightly modified form of gear-case embodying my invention, and Fig. 6 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the reinforcing side plates forming part of the end projection of the upper portion of the gear-case shown in Fig. 5, previous to its being bent into the required shape. Fig. 8 is a similar view of a reinforcing side plate for the lower portion of the gear-case.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, an upper and a lower portion 1 and 2, respectively, of a gear-case are shown. The upper portion 1 comprises two spaced side plates 8 and 4:, the edges of which are bent to form flanges 5 and 6, respectively, which are connected together by means of an edge plate 7 welded thereto. Similarly, the lower portion 2 of the gear-case comprises two side plates 8 and 9 provided with flanges 10 and 11, respectively, and an edge plate 19. welded. to said flanges.

Each of the portions 1 and 2 is provided with two oppositely disposed semi-circular openings, which, when the portions are united, form circular openings 13 and 11 for a gear shaft and pinion shaft, respectively. A hinged cover 15, mounted on the edge plate 7 of the upper portion 1, provides easy access to the inside of the gear-case for purposes of inspection and repair. A plurality of relatively small plates 16 are welded to the sides of the upper portion of the gearcase so as to engage the side plates 8 and 9 of the lower portion 9. of the gear-case when the two portions are assembled.

The gear-case is supported by means of supporting-bars, (not shown), disposed within recesses 17 and 18 in the two ends of the upper portion of the gear-case. Supporting lugs or end projections 19 and 20, which form walls of the recesses 17 and 18, respectively, are formed by the end portions of the side plates 3 and 1 and the edge plate 7. In constructing these supporting lugs, the ends of the edge plates are bent into a substantially horizontal plane to provide a seat for the supporting member (not shown), after which it is welded, or otherwise attached, to the ends of the side plates forming the upper wall of the recesses.

The lugs 19 and 20 are each provided with a substantially U-shape reinforcing member 21, the main body portion of which is welded to the horizontal end portion of the edge plate and the end portions of which are welded to the side plates and their inturned flanges, as best shown in Fig. 2. Portions 22 of the ends of the side plates 3 and 41. are cut horizontally and bent inwardly to form the third wall of the recesses 17 and 18, at the ends of the upper portion of the gear case. The abutting edges 23 01'' the members 22 are welded together. The lower portion 2 of the gear-case has lugs or end projections 24 and. 25 similar to those of the upper portion 1 except that there are no bent portions 22, the ends of the edge plate 12 being bent to form the lower wall of the end recesses.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3, the side plates 3 and 4; are each formed by bending the edges thereof along a broken line 23 to form flanges 5 and 6, respectively, and by cutting the plate along a horizontal line 27 and bending it inwardly, along a broken line 28, to a plane substantially perpendicular to the main body portion.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1-, the side plates 8 and 9 of the lower portion 2 of the gear-case are each formed by bending the edge of the plate along the broken line 29, shown in the drawing, to form the flanges 10 and 11, respectively.

Referringparticularly to Figs. 5 and 6, the side plates 3 and 4- of the upper portion 1 and side plates 8 and 9 of the lower portion 2 of the gear-case are provided with reinforcing plates 30 and 31., and 32 and 33, respectively, welded or otherwise attached to the side plates thereof. The ends oi edge plate 7 constitute end walls of the recesses 17 and 18. The longitudinal edges of the plate 7 are welded to the upper edges of the side plates 3 and 4-, and the plate 12 is secured to the side plates 8 and 9 in the same manner, the side plates, in this modified form, not being provided with inturned flanges along their upper and lower edges, respectively.

The reinforcing plates 30 and 31 are best described in conjunction with Fig. 7, which is a developed view of the plate 30. Plate 31 is substantially similar to plate 30 and is constructed in the same manner. These plates are formed from a substantially U- shape member shown in Fig. 7. The main side portions 3% of the U-shape member are bent along a dotted line 35 to a plane substantially perpendicular to the central portion 36 thereof. An edge portion 37 on each of the main side portions is then bent along a dotted line 38 into a plane substantially perpendicular to the main side portions 34. In Figs. 5 and 6, the central portion 36 constitutes the upper wall or supporting seat of the recesses 17 and 18, the main side portions 34 being welded or otherwise secured to the side plates 3 and 4 and the bent over portions 37 extending over the edge of the members 3 and 1 and welded to the edge plate 7.

Reinforcing plates 21, similar to those described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, are disposed within the bent end portions of the members 30, 31, 32 and A flat plate 39 serves to reinforce the U-shape plate 21 and the member to which it is attached. The plates 30, 31, 32 and 33 are constructed ina similar manner, Fig. 8 being a view of the punching "from which plate 33 is constructed. The plates 32 and 33 project slightly above the upper rim of the lower-portion side plates 8 and 9, in order to engage the side plates 3 and 4 of the upper portion 1 to hold them in position, when assembled.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, by providing flanges on the side plates or on the side plate reinforcing members and by welding or otherwise securing these flanges to the edge plates, I have produced a gear case of substantially the same weight and cost as those heretofore constructed and of materially increased trength and rigidity.

From the above description it is apparent that gear-cases having end projections substantially the same as those just described are greatly strengthened by bending portions of the side plates to form inturned flanges, and by fitting these flanges against the smaller U-shaped plates which are within the end projections and welding them there to, great resistance to buckling is provided.

While I have shown preferred forms of my invention, it is possible to modify the details. I, therefore, desire to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A gear-case comprising edge lates and side plates, the side plates each aving an end projection the lower portion of which is bent inwardly to serve as an end closure.

2. A gear-case comprising an upper and a lower portion, the upper portion comprising side plates having an end projection provided with inturned portions that serve as end closures.

3. A gear-case comprising side plates provided with overhanging end portions and with inturned flanges below the said portions, and an edge plate secured to the up per edges of the main portions of the side plates and to the lower edges of the said end portions, the inturned flanges serving as end closure members.

1. A gear-case comprising an upper and a lower portion, each comprising an edge plate, a plurality oi side plates having end projections with a portion thereof inturned to form end closures, and a reinforcing metal plate of substantially U-shape secured to said side plates and to said edge plate at said projections.

5. A gear-case comprising an upper and a lower portion, each comprising side plates having end projections, an edge plate disposed intermediate said side plates and attached thereto, a reinforcing side plate of substantially U shape having inturned flanges, said flange being attached to the end projections of said side plates, and a plate of substantially U-shape disposed intermediate the end projections of said side plates and welded to the said side plates and to said reinforcing side plate at its base and inturned flanges.

G. A gear-case comprising an edge plate, side plates attached to said edge plate and provided with end projections having inturned flanges, and an additional plate of substantially U-shape secured to said edge plate and said side plates.

7. A gear-case comprising side plates provided with overhanging end portions and with inturned flanges below the said portions, an edge plate secured to the upper edges of the main portions of the side plates and to the lower edges of the said end por tions, the inturned flanges serving as end closure members, and a U-shaped strengthening member secured between the sides of the said overhanging end portions, above the end plate.

8. A gear-case comprising an upper and a lower portion, each of which comprises side plates having end projections, an edge plate welded to said side plates, a reinforcing side plate of substantially U-shape Welded to said side plates and an end projection of said gear-case and having inturned flanges at its outer edges, an additional plate of U-shape disposed intermediate the end projections of said side plates and welded thereto, and a flat plate placed within said U-shape plate and Welded thereto.

9. A gear-case comprising two spaced sideby-side sheet-metal members each provided with a projecting portion at each end thereof, and a member of substantially U-shape adapted to substantially envelop both of said end projections at one end of the gearcase.

10. A gear-case comprising two spaced side-by-side sheet-metal members each provided with a projecting portion at each end thereof, a member of substantially U-shape adapted to substantially envelop both of said end projections at one end, and an additional member of substantially U-shape disposed within said first mentioned member and rigidly attached thereto.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 30th day of March, 1920.

CLAUDE BETHEL. 

